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Sunday, April 12, 2015

I’ve heard the best way to become a better writer is to
write. That’s fine, as far as it goes, but writing the same thing over and over
gets me nowhere. I need to hone my skills and try to get better with each book,
each chapter. With this in mind, I’m always reading books, articles, and blogs
on how to improve my writing. I often find lists of tips or rules. For
example:

Photo by Chance Agrella

ØNever start with a dream sequence. Misleading
your readers isn’t a good way to earn their trust.

ØAmnesia is gimmicky, overdone, and unrealistic. Don’t
use it.

ØLet your reader get to know your main characters
so that they will empathize with their struggles.

I’ve just finished reading Dan Brown’s Inferno, and realized about 30% into the book he’d broken all three
of these rules, as well as indulged in a little head hopping. We start off in a
dream sequence, almost immediately realize Professor Langdon has forgotten the
last few days, and everything happens so fast we learn almost nothing about Sienna
Brooks, other than some intriguing information in a sort of portfolio Langdon
discovers.

I also realized it didn’t matter, because what Dan Brown
does so well is compel his readers to turn the page. He sets the stake early
on, and makes them huge. He’s a master at pacing, keeping the story roaring
ahead at anywhere from a slow simmer to a rolling boil. At the same time, he
manages to work in a considerable amount of esoteric information without ever
slowing the story with an info-dump. I have to admire Langdon’s ability to
instruct us on the fine points of historic art treasures while riding on the
back of a motorcycle, fleeing for his life.

Although Brooks remains a bit of a mystery, Langdon comes
through loud and clear. Dan Brown’s books are a little different than the
traditional thriller, with equal parts treasure hunt and run for your life. The
charming Professor Langdon, with his passion for symbols, gentle sense of
humor, and the ability to keep his head in any crisis, is the perfect protagonist.

By the end of the story the loose strings have all been
tied up, and Brown’s very good reasons for breaking the three rules above have
become clear. The ending breaks another rule, in my opinion, but I won’t spoil
it for anyone who hasn’t read the book yet.

Rules are rules for a reason. I think what Brown’s book
illustrates is that they can also be broken, for a reason. A secondary lesson is
that once an author has sold a bazillion books, he gets a little more leeway on
breaking the rules. Because rule number one is to entertain the reader. If we do
that, the story is a success.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

In our family, holidays tend to be a mix of tradition and new
ideas, or at least variations on old ideas. Today, I’ve been preparing for
Easter: making a pie, planning a menu, and dying eggs. I no longer have small
children and no grandchildren yet, so nobody is too interested in dying eggs
with me. I decided to try a natural dying method, which has the advantage of
also saving a step.

I hard-boiled these eggs as usual, but added the onion skins
to the pan, purple in one and yellow in the other. I like the results. The
colors are earthy rather than the customary pastel, but quite lovely. Surprisingly,
the yellow onions seem to have more pigment, or at least dyed my eggs a much
deeper color, than the purple.

I’ll peel some of them tomorrow and make deviled eggs as an
appetizer. There’s a certain irony to serving deviled eggs for Easter, but we can
live with that. The rest of the eggs will probably appear in tuna salad later
in the week, once the leftover turkey is gone.

I’d love to hear about your holiday traditions and original
twists. Happy Easter.